Geely Group (吉利), one of China’s main independent automakers, is considering bidding for Ford Motor Co’s Volvo Cars unit in an alliance with an unnamed investment partner, a company spokesman confirmed yesterday.
Geely, based in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, is among several Chinese automakers that reportedly have shown interest in the Swedish automaker, though company officials had earlier denied such reports.
Gui Shengyue (桂生悅), chief executive of Geely Automobile Holdings (吉利汽車控股), the automaker’s Hong Kong-listed entity, told reporters on Tuesday that Geely could team up with a state-owned Chinese investment company to make a bid for Volvo.
Speaking at a briefing in Hong Kong on Geely’s first-half earnings report, Gui said Geely’s parent company, rather than its listed unit, could bid for Volvo.
“Geely is an ambitious company and given current global changes, we really cannot miss out on this move,” the financial magazine Caijing quoted Gui as saying.
Since more than 90 percent of Geely’s capital is tied up in its listed company, the parent company lacks the wherewithal to manage the acquisition by itself, Gui said. But the company would join with either a government entity or some other institutional investor, Caijing quoted him as saying.
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